Hey guys, we are gathered here today for a momentous occasion to check my friend Amy H. Johnson’s new book, The Fangirl Files, the hell out.

It’s hard out there for a fangirl, pimping the things we love.

Despite being smarter and sexier than the general population – I mean, this is a scientific fact because we basically feast on the souls of hot, shirtless men – fangirls are often maligned and misunderstood.

So, naturally, I was as excited as the bottle of water Alcide splashes in the latest Magic Mike when Amy unveiled a book about a key part of my identity.

Being an Australian, I am living proof that Amy has international influence, bitches. Friendship through internet fangirling is so special because the friendship is sparked because their minds, – and possibly eyes and ovaries – have connected, somehow.

My two key fangirl sisters from other misters are Amy, who also writes a blog called Imaginary Men, and Julie Kushner of TV Recappers Anonymous. Way back in 2009, I made the exceptional choice to download a few eps of a new show called the Vampire Diaries and soon scoured the internet high and low for people who would understand the life-altering importance of the Team Damon versus Team Stefan debate, and happened upon Julie’s incredible blog, who wrote without a doubt the wittiest recaps of the show. In the comments section, there were hilarious reactions from one of Julie’s followers… Miss Amy!

Over time, our fangirl Holy Trinity analysed this show from every angle with the focused, collective energy of a group of monks fasting on a mountaintop. We discussed everything from Amy’s ongoing confusion about my love for all things Tyler Lockwood to our sadness in season two that the show was temporarily burdened with character development at the expense of shirtlessness and fan service.

And as I wrote in a comment on Amy and Julie’s blog series about their latest fangirl picks, I learned that fangirling can be transformative, empowering, literary, trashy, emotionally draining, hilarious and exhausting. By narrowing in on particular facets of a story, or characters, or songs, you can see into a person’s soul in a way like no other.

Amy perfectly captures in her book that fangirls are just people who feel things a little more strongly. We don’t work in half measures. When we love, we are passionate in our affection and, yes, objectification, of our subjects of interest.

This love may cause us to do crazy, wonderful things, like eating Count Chocola cereal at a ridiculous hour in the morning to be part of a season premiere liveblog, or write a memoir about our life as punctuated by fangirl adventures. Or we will do our own version of Napoleon Dynamite’s dance to Canned Heat for Pedro’s election to cheer up a friend when they are down, and work that song like a hooker pole, dammit!

As Amy herself says: I took chances, had adventures, met people from around the world, and did things I hadn’t thought myself capable of … Indulging in the things you love – music, bands, TV shows, celebrity crushes, is not silly and shallow – it can bring beauty, joy, friendship, confidence and many wonderful memories.

I can add this book to the list of things I love as much as I love to hear Smash Williams talk about himself in the third person.

Aside from hours of fun, laughter, and marveling at insightful, sharp writing, Amy has introduced me to the Killers, Friday Night Lights, and Montgomery Cliff. Friday Night Lights has given me the ultimate philosophy to win at life: clear eyes, full hearts, can’t lose.

Julie has taught me that fangirling will hone your snarking game, and that favourite quotes from your pop culture bank will save you in a pinch when needing inspiration.

Like when you see a gorgeous guy and report back to a friend without a visual and need to convey his gorgeousness, you might go all Rae Earl from 90s nostalgia fest My Mad Fat Diary and say, “I wanted him to treat me like that little goat from Jurassic Park and just. Eat. Me. Whole”.

Or to express your annoyance at your mortal enemy slash future soul mate showing up at your place of work ala Joey Potter from Dawson’s Creek: “Did you want anything or did you just come here to infect the place?”

I love how Amy managed to capture the magic of being a fangirl in her book, something that is so hard to explain or quantify to people without the fangirl gene. It’s like explaining why you love someone, there are lots of little and big somethings that might hit you like a lightning bolt or sneak up on you, but it’s something another less loved up person will never truly understand until they experience it for themselves.

I think fangirls get a lot of flak because we tend to keep it real when talking about our obsessions. You won’t find anything more creative than a fangirl when they’re trying to find the words to convey the awesomeness of their current interest. We get so caught up in our enthusiasm we will talk in colourful, creative ways rather than getting caught up about the literary devices that make something a work of art or other typical critical terms.

It’s not that we don’t do this at all, but the swoon factor almost always wins out.

But let’s be honest, when you are trying to convince someone to read a book or watch a show, do you describe it in fancy terms or more relatable terms, as when I was convincing friends to watch my recent fave, The Mindy Project: (Me: “Oh my God, I’m so in love with that show, and when Doctor Castellano danced to Try Again my ovaries exploded and I just wanna have sweaty, grumpy, half-Italian babies with him”)?

Fangirls just get to the heart of what people care about.

Also, mass culture is just as, if not arguably more, worthwhile to analyse, because it reflects current modes of thought and gives us an opportunity to examine our reaction to them. Whilst looking at pretty, pretty, pretty men.

Daniel Radcliffe probably said it best when showing his support for fans by saying, well, some people are addicted to heroin, man.

Australia is sports obsessed and people regularly lose their shizz over the outcome of a sporting match (in some countries, people have been KILLED over a high profile sporting match, for reals), yet seem puzzled when I show equal passion for a piece of pop culture. All I say is, the people you love kick inanimate objects between goal posts, the people I love just happen to try to save the world from White Walkers through the use of Valyrian swords.

Now, as a fangirl, I have particular difficulties arguing with men about whether I have substance or not.

For men who are dubious about fangirls, but who constantly express confusion over what women want, that is an untapped resource right there, my friends. Your fangirl friends could point you in the direction of any number of romantic heroes, like Pacey Witter, for pointers on how to virtually guarantee the dropping of panties like buying someone a wall or catapulting yourself over a car to punch a bully and defend a lady’s honour.

Just, like, be a man already, and get over your neuroses about fangirls and get laid through advice from us based on our insane knowledge of grand gestures and sexy dialogue.

Also, for the men who believe that Star Wars is morally and intellectually superior to my at times far more girly interests – I mean, seriously, life and death decisions that affect the entire galaxy are made in the series that hinge on discussions with holograms… Just don’t tell me your shizz makes more sense, than mine, k?

And, in closing, may I provide one further argument for the power of the fangirl – in a nation wildly divided over issues like immigration policy, Australia has only once been entirely united in mind and spirit during my lifetime – immediately following the untimely death of Dr Patrick Reid from Aussie series Offspring, which united every woman in an outpouring of grief on social media, phone conversations and news articles over the tragic loss of a national treasure.

So, follow Amy’s advice from her brilliant new book, and live and love hard, then recover like a trooper and storm the frontlines of whatever passion in life makes your heart sing.

And, if you liked this review, and are intrigued to hear more, keep your eyes peeled for my upcoming review of one Miss Julie’s books.

]]>https://myspideysenseistingling.wordpress.com/2016/10/28/insert-fangirl-squee-here-drop-what-you-are-doing-and-read-the-fangirl-files/feed/0myspideysenseistinglingClick to connect to my new book-centric website!keepcalmihidtheirshirtsImage result for smash williamsImage result for joey potter did you come to infect the placeImage result for daniel radcliffe addicted to heroinImage result for dr patrick reidBuffy Rewatch – What’s My Line Part IIhttps://myspideysenseistingling.wordpress.com/2014/09/19/buffy-rewatch-whats-my-line-part-ii/
https://myspideysenseistingling.wordpress.com/2014/09/19/buffy-rewatch-whats-my-line-part-ii/#commentsFri, 19 Sep 2014 02:30:34 +0000http://myspideysenseistingling.wordpress.com/?p=2336Two Slayers!

Angel in peril is a new thing for the show, and I really enjoyed it not being Cordelia for a change. It also helps that we were given a more appealing side of him in Part One, so the audience is even more invested in his safety now.

The contrast between Kendra, the traditionalist vampire slayer, and Buffy the unconventional rebellious slayer is interesting. There’s also this extra level of interesting characterization, where Buffy suddenly feels protective about her identiy and resentful of it being co-opted by this stranger — an identity that we’ve seen her resenting and only accepting in resignation so far in the series.

“She died.”
“Just a little!”

Anyway, Kendra is a legit Slayer, and this brings up some neat stuff. First of all you have the fact that Kendra coming into the picture means that Buffy has a chance of having an actual career. It’s potentially incredibly freeing, especially after how trapped Buffy was feeling in the last episode. The other thing that Kendra’s appearance does is it creates a nice contrast between the “proper” way of doing things (aka the way Kendra does things- by the book) and Buffy’s less orthodox way. I also think that Buffy is a little jealous of how well Giles and Kendra are getting along. Both of them do things by the books while Buffy is an off the books kinda gal. I love this little exchange:

Buffy: I don’t take orders. I do things my way.
Kendra: No wonder you died.

This comes back later in the episode where Buffy doesn’t go back to Giles like she should and almost gets killed. Kendra, on the other hand, did follow procedure and brings the Scoobies back with her as reinforcement, saving Buffy’s life. And I do love the Buffy and Kendra ended up parting ways as friend, each having learned a bit from the other

Willy! To the not-rescue! I love how Angel’s shirt has peeled open in the struggles NATURALLY. LOLOL

“What are you going to do with him anyway?
“I’m thinking, maybe dinner and a movie. Don’t want to rush into anything. I’ve been hurt, you know.”

Cordelia and Xander working together! That’s even more exciting than them making out!

You know, I do like Angel very much. But I still really I enjoyed Drusilla getting in a little bit of torture as she discussed what he did to her family. There’s so much mental scarring and desire and hate mixed up on there, and I love this little moment when the rage rises up out of the Stockholm Syndrome and psychic confusion. When she’s like, I remember everything you did to my family and now you’re going to HURT for it like I hurt.

(This is one of the reasons why Drusilla is an interesting case that raises serious questions about the human self being erased by vampirism. Especially since… Angel traumatized & tortured HUMAN Drusilla until her mental facilities frayed. And THEN he turned her. If it’s just a demon with memories, it makes zero sense that this demon would so completely overwhelmed and broken by the torment that human went through and the horrible death of everyone that human cared for. Why would something that was just a demon care what had happened to its human shell? Why wouldn’t the demon just make use of the factual information it has inherited and be on its way, totally normal & without any effects of trauma? Because the legend is wrong, in my opinion.)

Buffy being jealous of Kendra feels like almost this sibling deal.

“Angel’s our friend! Except that I don’t like him.” – this is a moment where I loved Xander a lot. He knows Angel, even if he dislikes and resents him. And he’s going to back up Buffy here like a real friend would.

“I’d rather be fighting you anyway.”
“Mutual.”
I WOULD LIKE TO ADD MY SUPPORT FOR THIS AS WELL.

It’s interesting because now the dynamic between Spike and Drusilla has switched, with him hurt and her back to full strength.

Let’s talk about Drusilla, who Spike is attempting to revive to full health in this two parter. I’ll go into the plot more in Part II.

We’ve seen that she has certain extra-sensory abilities that haven’t been observed in other vampires, having the ability to sense and predict things… (“Don’t worry. Everything’s switching. Outside to inside. It makes her weak ” “Did my pet have a vision?…”It hums. I can hear it.”) And this probably endows her with a very unique perception of the world. Add that to all of the psychological damage that Angel inflicted + the influence of the demon and you have one complicated vampire.

I believe that this is supposed to be the factor that makes Drusilla getting back her strength a scary prospect. She’s NOT just another vampire. Her mental illness doesn’t weaken her and her extra abilities are a threat. She’s written about in the Watcher diaries, which is a lot more than you can say for the random vamps that Buffy stakes every night. (However, I do really have to agree that this episode goes a bit overblown in emphasizing the stakes and exaggerating them to create drama.)

What I love is that Spike tries to engage with her on HER wave length instead of trying to force her to operate on his own. He understands her multiple challenges, how she’s been damaged and gifted, and he curbs himself every time he gets too impatient with her. I think that Drusilla does take advantage of this, because she’s crafty and especially insightful, regardless of her mental challenges. But I think it tells us a lot about Spike that he understands that the way she reacts to things often really isn’t her fault.

It’s a nice juxtaposition to Buffy’s growing acceptance of Angel. We’ve gone from a place where Buffy would allegedly bring up Angel’s vampirism in every argument to where she’ll kiss him in “vampire face” without flinching or being repulsed.

Oh Dalton and the big brain! I love that we have a sort of meek, brainy vampire who isn’t just an animal.

Plus Willy! A human who knows all about vampires without being connected to the slayer and tries to play neutral party. FASCINATING.

I thought I’d do something a little different for this review and do a stream of consciousness review.

Now, thoughts!

– THE DARK AGE. In which we find out what the hell is up with Giles.
– And the rest was silence. Silence and BLUE GOO.
– Giles has a significant dream for once! I was half-expecting Jenny to be in his bed. No luck.
– Really, Willow? Your fantasy involves Ziti?
– I still don’t get Xander’s choice of Amy Yip. Seems like one of those references that got dated about a day after the episode aired.
– The image of Baby Giles in Tweed Diapers is awesome.
– I love Jenny freaking Giles out by saying she destroyed his book.
– Giles is the sexiest fuddy-duddy!
– “No, I think I’d like to stay in.” HOTT
– KISSING! HOTT
– “I’ll see if I can make you squirm.” HOTT
– “It was a one-way street. I was going one way!” One of my all-time favorite Cordelia lines. Very Clueless.
– Wouldn’t you WANT the vamps to be getting blood from the blood bank rather than actual people? Well, I guess the blood is supposed to go to actual people who need transfusions. Still… where does Angel get his blood from? Because if I had to guess I’d say it’s the blood bank.
– ONLY TWO NAMES LEFT ON THE LIST OH NOES
– TATTOO OH NOES
– DEAD GUY WAKING UP OH NOES
– Saturday computer school with Ms. Calendar!
– ETHAN RAYNE OH NOES
– “It’s one of my virtues. …Not really.”
– Giles has such an old-school phone, it’s cute.
– “Why did he call him Ripper?” “Oh.”
– “This is what happens when you have school on Saturday.”
– NOES THE DEMON IS IN JENNY
– Your old-school phone is now DEAD
– I LOVE THAT OLD PICTURE OF GILES SO MUCH I WANT IT FOR MY WALL
– SO I CAN STARE AT IT AND SWOON
– SERIOUSLY ;jdfklsafl;j;akl
– Again, TATTOO OH NOES
– “If you two aren’t with me 110%, then get the hell out of my library!” Okay, so Willow should be a teacher and/or librarian and/or drill sergeant.
– ACID ON SKIN JESUS FUCKING CHRIST
– It’s like the Dark Mark! Giles can SENSE it!
– I really like the solution they come up with, with Angel and Angel’s VampDemon fighting Eyghon or however you spell that. And the way Angel’s face goes all wonky for a while. Hee.
– Jenny But of course because this is a Whedon show, nobody ever gets to be in a happy relationship. SIGH. JOSS WHEDON WHY MUST YOU CRUSH ALL OF OUR SHIPPING DREAMS.
– I like how Buffy cheers him up at the end by saying they have something in common and then letting him insult her music.
– “Bay City Rollers! That’s music.” LOLOL GILES. I would have thought you’d go for Vivaldi or something.

This is my favorite episode of BtVS up to this point. I think it’s perfectly written and directed, and showing just how much the quality of the show has increased since the pilot. The last scene is a mission statement that things are not going to be as simple as good guys defeating monsters, but the entire episode seems to constantly question what the truth is. The moment that an idea is introduced, it’s subverted, and nothing can be taken at face value.

Though the character of Ford is can at times be irritating (I feel you, Spike!), I’m fond of this episode because I feel like it was necessary — because it’s inevitable that some human would take advantage of Buffy’s secret superhero identity, seeking to use her to benefit themselves.

I find Ford fascinating, many focus on the vampire aspect but I do also see him as having a lot in common with the villains of the film “Scream”. He’s really about telling a narrative. He was likely disturbed most of his life, in some ways, he has clear trouble with reality. I think he just loves the idea of the “dying villain becomes monster” and Buffy as the “hero”… it’s an almost cliche narrative but what works is that Ford is so into it. It’s tragic as well though, and sad, and the whole episode works on so many levels.

Drusilla: “Do you remember the song that mummy used to sing me?”
Angel: “I remember.”
–so much implied with these simple lines!

I absolutely love the opening scene between Angel and Drusilla. It makes me want 20 more scenes with them. I find it really interesting to see Angel interacting with other vampires as a fellow vampire who has a complicated past (instead of simply the slayer’s backup).

For the arc, the most important thing is that we learn about Angel’s history with Drusilla and get a few hints about their complex and twisted relationship. Dru is extremely sinister in the chilling opening scene, going hunting and about to kill a little boy, when Angel turns up to stop her and tell her to leave Sunnydale with Spike – but at the same time, she is disturbingly human as she remembers the song her mother sang to her (just as she intends to make the little boy her food) and reminds Angel of her family that he killed. Unlike the vampires in season 1, Drusilla is a monster and a victim in equal measure.

Drusilla’s and Angel’s meeting at the graveyard gets Buffy jealous since she sees them and misinterprets it as a lovers tryst (and Drusilla, in her old-fashioned dress, probably seems to Buffy just like the kind of women she thought Angel liked in Halloween). Buffy starts questioning whether she trusts Angel, even though it’s for the wrong reasons – she still seems to worry mostly about other women he could be interested in. But she gets harsh dose of reality when she learns the full story about Dru.

Giles: “How will I know what to wear?”
Jenny: “…Do you own anything else?”
These two are so freakin’ cute.

“And I think the peasants were all depressed.”
“I think you mean oppressed.”
“Whatever.”

Ford: “Would I be imposing?”
Xander: “Oh, only in the literal sense.”

So, Angel, what you do last night?
Oh I was just yet again confronted with the unspeakable evil I used to get up to on a daily basis. One of my innocent victims who I turned into a monster wanted to chat, so I tried not to cry and asked her to please not get us all killed.
Er, I mean, READING. I WAS READING THIS REALLY GOOD BOOK.

Deadboy! Xander, Willow, and Angel going a mission together! This is all of the good.

“These people don’t know anything about vampires. How they are! How they live! How they dress! …. [meets guy in identical outfit]”
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

This may be my very favorite line in all of BtVS:
“Yes, it’s terribly simple. The good guys are always stalwart and true. The bad guys are easily distinguished by their pointy horns or black hats, and we always defeat them and save the day. No one ever dies and everybody lives happily ever after.”
“Liar.”

Drusilla and Angel’s relationship is so complex. After all the awful things Angel orchestrated, to purposely DO THAT TO HER, I don’t think that’s supposed to be a statement about weakness on Drusilla’s part or look in any way romantic or healthy. It’s Stockholm Syndrome of the extreme vampire kind.

This was one of my favorite early episodes of Buffy. I love how the show takes a concept that could have been just an opportunity for a comedy episode full of wacky hilarity – people being transformed into their Halloween costumes – and makes it into story full of revealing character moments. I think this is why it is one of my favorite episodes up to this point in the show.

The choice of Halloween costumes is very telling of the characters’ issues with their own identity. Everybody is trying to be someone they’re not. Well, except for Cordelia. Buffy and Xander have issues with trying to fit into traditional gender roles. Buffy literally trying to make herself into someone else, into a weaker, conventionally feminine girl because of what she thinks a man would like more. Then she gets a case of “Be careful what you wish for” when she’s transformed into the worst case of stereotypical helpless screaming damsel who can’t defend herself and expects men to save her. Xander, as s Soldier!Xander, he gets to do what he can’t in real life – be a traditionally masculine hero, beat up Pirate!Larry, and save Damsel!Buffy. but is the one who actually had a clue what was going on and stepped up to tell him what to do and not to do – such as, not to shoot the “demons” who were actually still little children.

Willow is still too insecure and afraid of people seeing her: she covers herself in sheets so Xander can’t see her new sexy look. But she’s the only one out of people transformed in their costumes who retains her own personality. She even gets to be the one to take charge, since Buffy and Xander aren’t themselves – prompting Cordelia to say “Who died and made her the boss?”

But it’s Giles, who doesn’t dress up as anything, that we learn most about in the episode. Giles’ stuffy librarian persona, we learn, is really a costume; but when you wear a costume long enough, it becomes you – “the outside becomes the inside” as Drusilla puts it. And what is fantastic is the way that Giles wasn’t wearing a costume when he took on his new character of “Ripper” – the other side of himself. He was just in his regular, old clothes. So…is the librarian get-up Giles’ real costume? Has he been acting/hiding his true self this whole time? Dun dun dun.
Spike continues to be clever! (and a fan of observing Buffy)
“She’s tricky. Baby likes to play. .. That’s what’s called resourceful.” He’s appreciative because I think they’re a lot alike in this aspect. He can admire it because he values it in himself.

Spike and Drusilla continue to be made of win. Dru says something like, “Do you love my insides as much as my outsides?” and Spike responds affectionately with “From eyeballs to entrails.” They’re just so different than normal vampires with the love they have for one another. I love them so much.

And can I just point out how smart Spike is? He’s sending his minions out to test out Buffy’s skill and recording it (oh, the 90s…). Not that he’s already done that but he wants to see everything she is capable of. He has an odd kind of respect for her as one would have for their enemy who one knows is brilliant. I love how he doesn’t underestimate her. Both he and Giles (in past episodes) make a point to say how she likes to play with the vampires she slays, which is rather telling about Buffy – that both her ally and enemy see this. It seems as if Buffy, as much as she resists her role as the Slayer, also enjoys some aspects of it (however unconsciously). I know these long, drawn out fight scenes between Buffy and random vampires are meant to be part of the action the show offers but they also show how Buffy learns and practices how to be a better Slayer. Plus, Spike doesn’t begrudge Buffy her “playing” as Giles seemed to. Why should he? He’s doing the same exact thing in that he’s playing with her.

I know we don’t know too much about Spike right now but I would think he would prefer to beat Buffy on equal footing if that makes any sense. She’s literally not herself right now. She has no idea who he is or who she is for that matter. She doesn’t understand the significance of this man (ahem, vampire) wanting to kill her is. Spike just seems the type to want to show Buffy, “Hey, I’m stronger. I beat you.” And her amnesia would seem to take a bit of that victory away from him.

Finally, Cordelia’s interactions with Buffy. Cordelia is an extremely feminine character but her femininity isn’t associated with weakness. She’s more irritated than at all crippled by fear like Buffy as the noblewoman is. She shows no fear, following Xander as he goes to check things out or remaining alert when they’re being hunted. I like this commentary on femininity.

First of all, I LOVE CORDY. Cordelia’s fake laugh is hysterical. And then when she says “I respect you too much to be dishonest” re: Buffy’s hair and clothes. EXCELLENT. And of course the scene where she lays out all the ground rules for Buffy coming with her to the party is fabulous. Then in the end, Cordy realizes that she’s much rather hang around high school boys whom she can control than ~cool~ college boys. I LOVE YOU, CORDY.

The opening scene is all sorts of adorable. I like that we get instances of Buffy, Willow, and Xander hanging out in a non-slaying capacity. It makes the whole world feel a bit more real, like things are still happening, even when we aren’t watching.

Wow, is that enough absurd phallic imagery? I mean, wealthy men sacrificing women to their devotion to a Giant Snake. That is not terribly subtle, and I’ll admit I kind of enjoy it in a so-bad-it’s-good-way.

I love Willow’s rant at Giles and Angel, complete with her admission that it didn’t make her feel any better. Also, “Angel, how do you shave?” brings up an interesting question. Does he shave? If he does, I imagine he’d be quite adept at doing it by touch at this point. But in a lot of legends, vampires can’t change their hair. It doesn’t grow and occasionally they can’t even cut it (this is the trigger for Claudia’s mental breakdown in Interview With a Vampire). But that tradition tends to be confined to books and movies, since you can’t really force an actor to keep exactly the same look across several seasons of a television show. So I’m guessing Angel mastered the shaving thing a long time ago and has since bought an electric razor so he doesn’t have to worry so much about cutting himself. Yes, I have spent far too much time thinking about this.

Speaking of Angel, his role in this episode is interesting. The first scene between him and Buffy is really awkward, with him highlighting their age difference, but not necessarily turning down a date or a cup of coffee. In fact, he’s the one who suggests them. Buffy is the one who can’t quite articulate what she wants from him, possibly because she doesn’t know. The whole scene feels over-dramatic to me, probably because both Buffy and Angel are assuming that they know what the other one wants. Then he gets super protective of her when she’s captured at the frat party, but doesn’t actually do much in terms of rescuing her. He knocks a few guys out, but without the rescue mission Buffy probably would have been just fine. She frees herself, gets a sword, and takes out both Tom and Machida without any help. Angel really wants to protect Buffy, but she doesn’t need him to.

Buffy is crushing on Angel haaaaard. The thing about Buffy/Angel is that I think that Joss is maybe playing the star-crossed lovers thing straight, but then you get something like the scene in the graveyard which is so over the top that it feels like it is making fun of those “vampire in love with an innocent girl” stories. And then at the end, you get Buffy confidently walking away from Angel because she’s realized she doesn’t need a boyfriend. So… idk. Is Joss playing it straight or his he lovingly criticizing those kinds of stories? I think it’s probably a bit of both.

I’d also note that it’s not just a fraternity or fraternity culture that’s being dealt with here – this particular fraternity is represented as one that caters to (likely generations of) wealthy and privileged men. I thought there were a lot of undertones concerning class. The Bollywood thing was definitely icky, but the point was to establish Buffy, Willow, and Xander as having “no money” to do things – this opens an episode about these characters being introduced to an organization that prides itself on its wealthy membership. A lot of Xander’s comments on the Frat implicate his feeling locked out of this social scene based on class, and even beyond the obvious misogyny of the “hazing” the frat boys subjected him to, I also got this sense of it being a demonstration of power by those who had wealth against someone who lacked it.

Of course, they put that almost wholly on Xander, as opposed to Willow (who’s off convincing Giles and Angel to Stop Being Meanies to her friend) or Buffy (whose beauty and the Frat’s need to complete their bizarre, Phallic-Obsession ritual allow her to pass into this world just long enough to be sexually assaulted/fed to a Giant Phallic Snake look I don’t know). I guess between Buffy and Xander we could see two, gendered forms of exploitation against those of lower classes – Xander’s very pointedly emasculated as a form of humiliation, and Buffy is objectified and pretty thoroughly dehumanized. Of course, the same thing happens to Cordelia, who does appear to have some level of access to wealth, even though she also seems to see the opportunity to interact with the members of this particular fraternity as a means of developing/increasing such access, so ultimately the nature of the gender-exclusivity of the group comes in, as her gender still ultimately dehumanizes her in their eyes.

Yeeeeeeeeeeah. Not the best episode out there, for sure. I definitely have issues with the way Xander treats a male foreign exchange student staying with Buffy versus the way he acts when she turns out to be female. I do, however, like that he’s willing to give that up for Willow, even if he’s not in love with her.

Other winning things: Sven. I love his conversation about how Cordelia treats him, because it’s hilariously awesome.

The best thing about this episode is Oz. I love how he is attracted to Willow because she’s in dressed in a big Eskimo costume. It’s so perfect.

Every other costume is totally stereotyping, though, and it’s clear that Willow is the only one who really tried for authenticity, other than Ampata…who is probably wearing the actual clothing she was buried in, which is both creepy and a question of how does it look that good? Does it get restored when she does?

Also, agreed on the Ampata story. She’s evil, but at the same time, she’s not. I feel bad that she was sacrificed for the good of the community, without giving a single thought to what SHE wanted out of life. At the same time, she kills people to get that life.

On the other hand, I did appreciate the implications Ampata’s story itself had in terms of this notion of a woman being robbed of her choices and put in a specific position because of some perceived or real overwhelming social need. Buffy compared it to finding out about the prophecy, but the bottom line is, it also implicates just her being the Slayer. She didn’t get to choose to be the Slayer, and in many ways it diminishes a lot of options she would otherwise have.

I do like Ampata laughing and having fun with Xander. He’s such a dork, but she really does seem to like him; she’s not just using him for his life force or whatever. She wants a Normal Life, just like Buffy, and Xander is a Normal Teenage Guy, and she likes that.

Best characters, best couple, best introduction. Spike walks on in, brash and bold and confident, blatantly contradicting our season’s main villain. Everything about his demeanor is rough and arrogant, and then he hears Drusilla. His face literally transforms because of her. It’s still one of my favorite moments of the show.

The fact that he morphs back into his human face just hits me on a visceral level. It brings up a completely unexplored facet of the show’s mythology. Here are two soulless creatures that shouldn’t care about anything other than death and destruction, but care about each other. Vampires in love, demons with humanity. Giving me all of the feelings. Then, it’s like they forget that they’re in front of other people. The haaaands and the faaaaces. Gratuitous displays of intimacy and physicality-based perfection. James Marsters and Juliet Landau fucking bring it.

That shot of Spike seeing Buffy for the first time is fantastic. Like visually it just appeals to me?

“Slayer!” “Slayee!” Forever the best Buffy quip.

Sheila, sweetheart, if you meet a man in a dark alley, and he tells you that the guys you were just with “disappeared,” RUN AWAY in the opposite direction as quickly as possible.

Juliet Landau has the best face. Even when she’s all vamp-face. It looks significantly more natural on her, which sounds ridiculous, but I mean it. The transition between the two faces is so fluid and smooth unlike the vampires we’ve met so far. LUV U AND UR FACE, JULIET.

And we get Angel backstory. I WANT MOAR. Evolving from a smoldering, broody piece of scenery into an actual character before our very eyes.

While sending the Anointed One up in smoke is meant to signify “a little less ritual and a little more fun” for the vampires in Sunnydale, that line is perfect because it also opens up the vampire mythos on the show, which until this point has been shrouded in ancient prophecies and stifled by formal ceremony and hierarchy and the stuff of open-collar velvet shirts. What used to lurk around in graveyards will now be loud and brash and in your face.

Most of this episode was given over to introducing Spike and everything, but there was a nice continuation of Buffy’s problems at school. I can’t say I can really relate to that sort of thing, but it is quite sad to see her work so hard and still have her bad reputation follow her around. There was also that other girl Sheila basically just there to be a foil to Buffy – she’s someone who truly doesn’t care what happens and never bothers with school at all. I feel like she would have quite enjoyed being the slayer, which is an interesting thought. Buffy struggles so hard to keep up a normal life with friends and family, and that (according to Spike at least) is what makes her such a unique and ultimately powerful Slayer. Principal Snyder is just as obnoxious as ever, but his conversation with the Police Chief guy at the end suggests he might not be as oblivious as we thought. Holy shit, people are actually noticing this stuff!

I love this episode so much!!! It is such a great introduction to two new characters, and it flips everything you thought you knew about this season upside down. Plus it has so many great moments of dialogue from the incredibly genre savvy this:

Xander Harris: As long as nothing really bad happens between now and then, you’ll be fine.
Buffy Summers: Are you crazy? What did you say that for? Now something bad is gonna happen.
Xander Harris: What do you mean? Nothing’s gonna happen.
Willow Rosenberg: Not until some dummy says, “As long as nothing bad happens.”
Buffy Summers: It’s the ultimate jinx.
Willow Rosenberg: What were you thinking? Or were you even thinking at all?

To practically everything Spike says:

“Yeah, I did a couple o’ Slayers in my time. I don’t like to brag….Who am I kidding? I love to brag!”

“So, who do you kill for fun around here?”

“I was actually at Woodstock. That was a weird gig. I fed off a flower person and I spent the next six hours watchin’ my hand move.”

Spike: I was rash, and if I had to do it all over again…
[laughs evilly]
Spike: Who am I kidding? I would do it exactly the same, only I’d do this…
[grabs the Anointed One]
The Anointed One: No!
Spike: …first!
[Spike sticks The Anointed One in the nearby cage and starts pulling a chain, lifting the cage up from the floor]
Spike: From now on, we’re gonna have a little less ritual… and a little more fun around here.
[the cage is lifted into the sunlight. The Anointed One screams as he dies]
Spike: Let’s see what’s on TV.

Plus, James Marsters is just way too pretty.

Also, Principal Snyder is hilarious:

“On the one hand, Buffy hasn’t stabbed a horticulture teacher with a trowel.”

]]>https://myspideysenseistingling.wordpress.com/2014/09/13/buffy-rewatch-school-hard/feed/5myspideysenseistinglingBuffy Rewatch – Some Assembly Requiredhttps://myspideysenseistingling.wordpress.com/2014/09/07/buffy-rewatch-some-assembly-required/
https://myspideysenseistingling.wordpress.com/2014/09/07/buffy-rewatch-some-assembly-required/#commentsSun, 07 Sep 2014 00:41:03 +0000http://myspideysenseistingling.wordpress.com/?p=2306Some Assembly Required: This is not one of the reasons season 2 is my favorite. But, it has awesome Giles/Jenny development and Cordelia funtimes.

So in this episode, Giles and Miss Calendar go on a date. Or should I say Jenny? I don’t think she even mentioned her first name before, because that’s the first I’ve heard of it. It’s cute anyway, it suits her. Oh, and some stuff happened with a guy who resurrected his dead brother and went around trying to make a creepy Frankenstein’s monster girlfriend for him by cutting up dead girls. But, y’know, that’s kind of unimportant, I didn’t really pay attention to that.

Brief thoughts:

I like Giles giving the little backstory blurb much better than Random Narrator Guy.

Oh noes Buffy lost her stake! She must improvise one out of a shovel handle!

This episode gives us some good character development and tons of hilarious dialogue.

The Buffy/Angel fight brings up some issues and communication problems with this pairing. Aww Angel is jellus of Xander. HE TOTALLY IS.

“Hey, I got a thing, you maybe have a thing, maybe we could have a thing!” Best pick-up line. Thanks Buffy.

I love the little moment where we see Cordelia watching Buffy and Willow walk away together for the “bat signal”, and she hesitates about going after them and then doesn’t… but then shows up just a few minutes later with a weak excuse of help on the science fair (not at all interested in leaving once Willow supplies the answer). Cordelia totally wants to be part of the gang now. In her secret soul! hee. By the way, “The tomato: fruit or vegetable?” Best science project.

And then her hilariously blatant attempts to get attention with the Chris mourning. Ha! “Hello, can we deal with my pain please?” Giles: “There, there.”

“No one’s gonna be led by our cheers.” Hee. I just want to watch Bring It On now.

This whole scene with the mom and the television is really depressing. I like that the show doesn’t shy away from stuff like that, though. Amy’s mom reliving her cheerleading days, and now Daryl’s mom reliving his football days.

Love Buffy’s cute little updos. HOW DO I DO THAT WITH MY HAIR PLZ.

Aww, Willow looking sadly at Xander as he talks about people wanting the unattainable.

“Do I deconstruct your segues?” For some reason that line cracked me up.

“Ms. Calendar’s my father.” LOLOL Jenny is hilarious.

Giles failing to ask Jenny out and then her asking HIM out is just hilarious. I get the feeling that she knows exactly what he was trying to say, too.

So apparently the dude playing Eric–the annoying, murder-happy one–co-wrote the screenplay for Scott Pilgrim Vs. the World. ***the more you know***

“You noticed that, huh.” Jenny is TOTALLY into him! I love it.

“He gets to see you in the sunlight.” Awwwww ANGEL ANGST. Also, how do they always manage to tie the broader emotional theme back around to the monster of the week? They ALWAYS do that!

I was actually pretty impressed with Cordelia for hiding in a dumpster. I mean, her OUTFIT could get DIRTY. Character development! I also love at the end when she tries to sincerely thank Xander and he’s just like “go away.” The look on her face is pretty priceless. XANDER YOU ARE SUCH A NOOB.

Longer thoughts:

But seriously. I really enjoyed this episode, it seemed like a pretty good quality foray back into the ‘monster of the week’ style. The plot was interesting, and it had a nice reveal halfway through that the dead brother was alive. More than that, it was interesting to see (however briefly) the effect of a person’s death on their family acknowledged in the show. Fair enough, it was just a guy who died in an accident, but I feel like sometimes Buffy takes death a little too lightly, killing off dozens of kids per episode and never having it recognized by anyone. In this, we get to see how one guy’s death affects both his brother and his mother, which means there are actually some more poignant scenes than you would think in this kind of episode (his mom just sitting there all day watching his old games is really quite sad). It annoyed me a little that Cordelia was yet again used as monster bait – since she’s in the know now, I’d rather she was a little more proactive instead of being cast as the damsel in distress all the time.

Really this episode was about relationships though, wasn’t it? It’s not just dead guy, no-one wants to be alone. Buffy and Angel are trying to make each other jealous, and his admission at the end that he was jealous of Xander simply for being a part of her life was quite sweet. Xander’s little speech about how people always just want what’s ‘unattainable’ was really interesting too – it shows rather more self awareness than I’m used to with him, and I think it might even be the first step on his path to realising that Buffy isn’t really the girl for him. It also sheds some interesting light on the whole Buffy/Angel thing, but we’ll go into that another time.